


Making Plans

by wickedorin



Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 15:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17185283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedorin/pseuds/wickedorin
Summary: Written for what ultimately turned out to be "Tumblr’s on Fire so I Have to Post These Before My Birthday Drabbles". Request: "Nanaki, post-game,  heartwarming."





	Making Plans

**Author's Note:**

> Set… sometime between the game and Advent Children, though I’ve mostly ignored minor canon details as per usual. *cough* I kind of really like how this turned out even if I keep getting annoyed at accidentally writing about things that go unsaid. …That probably doesn’t make sense to anyone else, but that’s fine.

The aftermath was… extensive.  Of course it was;  they’d been in the thick of it, the destruction and the battle, felt the raw power whip against and around them…  
  
But when they finally returned to Midgar, only then did they truly realize the _extent_ of it all.  Ruins. And people still living in the lasting shelter which remained of those ruins.  
  
Life as they’d known it had changed dramatically, but it was still _there_.  To be able to rebuild and go on.

 

* * *

 

The days following their victory was a surprising blur of mostly sleep and laying awake staring into the distance, trying to come to terms with what happened.  Barret insisted it was resting.  
  
And that was… such a concept.

 

* * *

 

Off and on as a group they managed to rest for about a week.  More than enough time to reflect on what came next; and on parting.  Cid had somewhere to be, of course, as did Yuffie, and while Vincent wasn’t very specific, he too decided to wish everyone well and rely on his own devices.  There were promises to visit, to keep in touch… and honestly, Cloud believed it was more than politeness.  
  
Plans were being made by those who wanted to remain, trying to figure out how best to rebuild and find _lives_ again.  Cloud was still trying to wrap his head around the  thought when he heard Tifa sigh deeply and stand up with a small cardboard box  full of everything that hadn’t been broken at the bar.  Translation: not much.  
  
“Guess we didn’t have insurance.”  She attempted to joke, moving the box aside.  
  
Cloud himself sat on one of the only chairs that still resembled its former self, even if one of the legs was worryingly wobbly.   Beside him, he’d cleared a place for Nanaki to lay, on top of a few discarded  jackets.  Luxuries would take a little longer.  "I’d avoid that conversation with Barret about now.“  He grinned lightly at her snort, turning his attention to his furred friend’s tail flick.  "You sticking around here for a bit?”  Not that he expected an extensive answer, or even a serious one, but when one bright, thoughtful eye turned to him, he didn’t really mind the momentary silence.  
  
“I think I would like to travel for a while.”  Nanaki finally responded, flashing his own version of a smile.  "I would like to be able to see the world without fighting.  Then I may go back to where I was born.“  Simple  plans, in one way, but well beyond what he’d imagined before his journey began.  
  
A breeze blew through the partially open wall; something Cloud was sure should have annoyed him; just another reminder of everything that was   broken.  It… didn’t, somehow.  "Cid would probably give you some rides, if you  wanted.”  He suggested, reaching for an easy response.  
  
Giving a little sound of amusement, Nanaki assured diplomatically, “I will ask.”  
  
“Maybe I could get a sidecar installed.”  Whether or not that was a tease was  definitively unclear under the almost bored drawl; but truthfully he was taking  in how oddly relaxed the moment was.  Not routine, by any means, but  comfortable.  
  
“I… appreciate the thought.”  
  
Cloud chuckled quietly at that non-answer.  Yeah, maybe a sidecar was a bad idea.   Not that he wouldn’t have tried upon request.  "Sounds good, though.   Traveling a while.  Lots to see.“  
  
"Many wonders that I couldn’t appreciate the first time through.”  Nanaki confirmed, head tilted as he stared up at Cloud for a moment before looking away again.  "Maybe we owe them new eyes to see them with.“  He wasn’t overly surprised when the only response he got from the blond human was a  hum of agreement, tail flicking once again.  
  
"You’ll visit?”  Tifa asked, the hope in her voice unrestrained as she turned, dusting her hands off.  "Or write, at least?“  
  
Nanaki grinned a bit, looking at his paws.  He  didn’t mind learning, but holding a writing implement might be another thing.  "Maybe I could get people to write on my behalf?  But I’ll visit.  I’ll be sure to.”  
  
Satisfied, Tifa nodded once before turning back to the ruins of glass and splintered wood.  Well, she considered trying to salvage some of the hardware.  It’d been a _nice_ bar.  
  
“You mean it though, right?”  Cloud asked casually and low, but there was a tightness in his voice that gave him away.  That, more than the careful fingers stroking over the fur on Nanaki’s shoulder.  
  
It was alright when Cloud did that, or the girls; any of the companions he’d fought beside, really.  He knew they weren’t treating him like a pet.  It was… sort of comforting.  "Yes, I do.“  He thought of Grandfather, then.  Of how he insisted they were all connected to each other somehow, no matter what; but it was sort of nice to make sure of that  every so often.  "I don’t expect a sidecar to be waiting for me.”  
  
Snorting, Cloud gave him a gentle shove instead.  "No promises either way.“


End file.
